Contradictions
by LadyMonokuro
Summary: Neither one of them was perfect. Justifying their deeds was not important. There was no single way of justice anyway. When ideals clash, contradictions are bound to happen. Is there a way over them, or must the other one fall? Rated M for lemons in later chapters. Ganondorf x Link
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is a story about Ganondorf, Link and their complicated relationship. There will be lemons in later chapters, but the story will be rather slow-paced. Their relationship won't be exactly romantic either. (If you know what I mean *wink*) Apart from that there is something I would like to say.

Hello everyone! I'm kind of new here and this is my first story here. I have written stories earlier, but this is first time I'm publishing anything. English is not my first language, but I do my best. If you see any typos or expressions that are not suitable, please tell me! I want to learn from those mistakes. I hope you enjoy! ^_^

1.

The best phrase to describe Ganondorf Dragmire's childhood would be: "One day you shall be the king." To him it wasn't just a combination of words, but the whole definition of his early life. All the fun things he wanted to do, but was not allowed to. All the boring "responsibilities" he hated taking part in, but was forced to. Everything was always explained with: "Because one day you shall be the king."

When Ganondorf asked, why was it that he would be the king, the answers could not satisfy him. "Because the laws say so, my boy." "It's a tradition young master." "It would defy the will of the sand goddess for someone else to be the king of gerudo."

Eventually he stopped asking, since the answers would never change. His elders were rather happy with this, thinking the little rascal had finally accepted his destiny to become the king of gerudo, being the first male to be born in one hundred years.

They could never have been more wrong.

Being the prince was never beer and skittles. The opposite actually. Major part of Ganondorf's time awake was spent in some kind of schooling. History of basically anything related to gerudos was being forced inside his head every morning just after the moment of cuckoos. Battle history and important victories, tradition and religion, sand goddess and her wisdom. All over, until Ganondorf could recite everything aloud in his dreams.

The worst part of education was the etiquette. Not only was it completely unnecessary, but all the tiny rules and exceptions made no sense what so ever. Ganondorf was certain, he would never actually have to remember that he should face the direction of wind while drinking water from a horn in his left hand. (With this they showed gratitude for the goddess for blessing them with sufficient water.)

The common gerudo were mostly vulgar and brute, but their prince lived in completely different world.

The only part of his schooling he really enjoyed was the combat training. "Gerudos are warriors first, only then people." How glad he was this tradition existed. Swords, bows, knifes, spears, fists, if necessary a gerudo would have to be able to fight with their teeth only. For Ganondorf the battle was never a problem. He was a natural talent. Koume and Kotake soon noticed that

physical combat was not the only strength of their adopted son. He also showed great potential in casting magic, especially in dark sorcery. They were so proud about their son.

On the outside Ganondorf looked like a dutiful and hardworking young man. In reality, he could not care less about the whole king of the desert business. He never asked to be the prince. He despised the word king itself. He felt free two times a day. First when battling and casting magic, second during the short whiles he was allowed some time alone. At those times he would sneak out of the fortress and find his way to the ruins a bit apart from the settlement.

There he had hid his greatest treasure, a book some merchant once gave him for free, since some of its chapters were badly damaged. The book was full of descriptions of foreign lands of people. Some chapters told there were people that looked like fish and lakes filled with burning water. Areas filled with trees and a fortress ten times bigger than his own. There even existed a race that would eat rocks for living.

Everything about that book was so different from what his elders ever taught. Ganondorf could hardly believe any of it.

It was a shame there were no pictures in the book. He would have loved to see all that. Every day he was more certain that once grown up he would leave the desert behind and travel. Just travel and see the world and its miracles for himself. The young Ganondorf never cared about governing anyway. No doubt his elders would not agree with him. He knew that well, yet he was naïve enough to try convince them, creating nothing more than a deep gap of bitterness between himself and his mothers.

"Nonsense!" Koume and Kotake would shout in chorus. "Goddess of sands herself has made you our destined leader! You have no right to go against the divine!"

Enraged youth then would run out of the fortress and find his way to his secret lair. This was not his wisest decision. The sand storm was raging and blinding him. Finally there he slumped down behind a wall that shielded him from the wind. Thoughts swirled inside his head. 'Is the goddess punishing me for denying my fate?' 'Why is it that I am to be the one with most power, yet I am chained down by it?'

He raised his hand to take a good look at it. His birthmark shone dimly. Three triangles, one glowing. They said it proved him to become the greatest ruler in their history.

What a stupid mark. No, a stain!

Furious, he hit the ground with his fist and regretted it immediately. The foreign book had fallen victim to his rage. The cover was broken. Hastily he picked the book up to see the damage. Surprisingly he found a folded piece of paper he had never seen before. It must have been inside the cover.

He opened the fold and was amazed. There was a single skilfully drawn picture on the paper. Simply speaking, the picture portrayed a man and a woman. For Ganondorf it was much more. They were tall and slender. Their skin was the colour of sand. Their noses were petite and hair golden. Yet their most striking trait were their ears that were long and pointy. Ganondorf liked those ears. He was a bit jealous of them. All in all he found them beautiful.

Under the picture there stood a single word: "Hylians."

Ganondorf was puzzled. He assumed that "Hylian" was a race somewhere far away, but he didn't remember having read anything about them. Even still, he found a new light inside his mind. He was now more certain than ever. He would leave this accursed desert. He would live as an ordinary, yet free man, and he would live with Hylians. And no one was allowed to say otherwise.

Pleased, he began to make his way back to the fortress. The sand storm too, was over.

AN: I have taken some artistic liberties with this story. Gerudo traditions are completely made up along with some other things.

In later chapters there might also be statements that are not entirely canon. I've tried researching some topics about Gerudo and Hyrule in general, but there are faults and contradictions in different wiki pages and Zelda websites.

Please tell me your thoughts!


	2. Chapter 2

AN: A BIG THANKS for those two people, who reviewed! I don't think I'll be answering to individual reviews, as you too would probably want me to use that time writing this story, but if there are any questions, I'll just answer them here!

Please inform me about any mistakes!

Enjoy!

2.

Link had never been a child of extreme negative emotions. Link had never known anger in his life. Sure, he was often annoyed, because of something Mido did. It annoyed him, when Mido teased him for getting along with Saria really well. It _really_ annoyed him that he was always the one Mido would test his new pranks on. And it really got on his nerves, when other Kokiri bullied him for not having his own fairy. But in the end it was all just meaningless teasing, not something to get angry over. Mido was just a little-minded bully and Link would always have Saria's support, even if things got ugly.

But this time everything was different.

"But why in the world would someone **do** something like this?!" Link cried. He was boiling inside. He had never expected anything like this to happen to him. He had taken it for granted that he would just keep living on in the same way. In the forest, with his friends, with the Great Deku Tree, carefree.

Link had thought that that day would become the greatest of all days. He had finally gotten his own fairy. Having his own fairy meant that Link was now a fully grown Kokiri, just like Saria and everyone else. He finally belonged to the group. He could finally take part to the monthly fairy race and play with the others. And most of all he no longer had to spend nights alone in his tree. Link felt complete.

Yet it all turned into a nightmare. When he heard that the Great Deku Tree was sick, Link did not hesitate to grab his sword and go find the root of the Great Deku Tree's agony. And he had succeeded! Link had gotten rid of the parasite that had been living inside the wise tree and he was relieved to know that everything would now return to normal.

It was just unfair.

It had been too late. The tree elder would still die. Realising this was the greatest shock in Link's life. He could barely listen the great tree's explanation. Link could not really comprehend what was it the Great Deku Tree wanted him to do, but he swore in his mind he would fulfil it. With his last ripples of life the elder tree would give Link a stone. A stone so precious he was willing to give his life for.

The moment, the Kokiri emerald touched Link's palm, the Great Deku Tree breathed his last. And that's when the grief broke loose. Link fell on his knees and started wailing loudly. Other children heard this and soon the whole meadow was full of sobbing Kokiri and fairies. Lost was not only the Great Deku Tree, but also the fun atmosphere. No more funny stories from the Great Deku Tree's sapling times would be told. There would no longer be anyone to comfort the children with their worries. There no one to guide them anymore. Needless to say, they grieved the loss of their only parent.

Eventually the tears would dry and silence would fall. One by one the children would stand up and find their way back to their trees, where they would just sit and wonder what to do next.

But that was not an issue for Link, for he knew exactly, what he needed to do. "Go to the Hyrule Castle. There you will surely meet, the princess of destiny," the Great Deku Tree had advised him. That all was clear, yet Link was left with two short, but grave questions: "Who?" and "Why?"

"Who would do this?" Link whispered, as his voice would break from any louder words.

"I think the Great Deku Tree said something about that," Navi said quietly. "The man from the desert, with black armour and an evil heart."

Now his grief was replaced with anger.

"But why in the world would someone **do** something like this?!" Link cried.

"Because he is evil, I guess," said Navi. That explanation was believable, but not enough for Link. He was not convinced, someone would do all this simply, because they were naturally evil. There had to be a reason better than that. Link was sure of that. He was also fairly sure, he would eventually meet, whoever was behind this, and then he would demand some answers.

"Let's go, Navi." Link decided, he could not just keep sitting there. He had to take action, and that meant, he would have to leave his home for the first time in his life. With heavy feet, he walked to the entrance of the forest. It was not leaving, he was uncomfortable with, but that Saria would stay behind. Up until now Saria and he would have shared everything. Saria had always been there, supporting him. But with this Link was alone. It pained him a little.

Just as he was about to step outside, Link heard the voice, he already missed so much.

"So, you really are leaving."

Link froze. He had never heard such a sad tone in Saria's voice. Link walked to Saria, but didn't say a word, knowing his voice would not be able to take it. For a moment they just stood there in complete silence.

"Are you not afraid of leaving? The Great Deku Tree always said that we would die, if we left the forest." Link shook his head. He was not especially strong or witty or confident, yet Link had never known fear. Other Kokiri would sometimes climb to his tree at night to wake him up, because they were too scared to be alone. Mido had made 'scaring Link senseless' his most important operation, as he did not like that girls would always depend on Link whenever something scared them. Whether that something was a funny shadow or a giant bug did not matter. Link was always glad to help.

Saria smiled. "I see, so you have made your decision," she said calmly. "But you don't need to worry. I will always be here, waiting for you, because we will always be friends, right?"

"Yeah!" said Link, happier.

"Here, take my ocarina! You can think of forest and me whenever you play it. That way you will never be alone!"

Link was touched. To think Saria would give him her greatest treasure. Carefully he took the instrument and put it to his bag. Then he hugged Saria as tightly as possible, quickly turned around, started running and never looked back.

AN: I apologise for there being hardly anything original in this chapter. It's just all the same that happened in the beginning of OoT. But it was all necessary for the story, so please bear with me. ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! Thanks again for the reviews! Sadly one of them was cut in half due its length. But the main points did come across. :D**

**As a side note: When I think about Ganondorf I see the Twilight Princess model. (He is SO much better-looking than the other ones. XD) Go google him if you haven't played TP. (Or don't. Whatever pleases you.)**

3.

The houses in Hyrule Castle Town were made of stone, stone! Link was puzzled. "Do they not freeze at night?" he wondered. Navi was not much wiser about the matter. "I think people use fire to keep themselves warm at nights." Link burst laughing. "That's insane! Why would they set their own house in fire?! No way!"

"If you are just going to laugh at me then shut up!"

'Oh, snap,' Link suddenly remembered that the fairy was still angry with him. The proud little thing with wings was seriously hurt. Not wanting to see Link's face she curled up into his pouch. It was warm cosy there.

Link let out a long and exhausted sigh. "Navi, I- Are you STILL angry about what I said last night?"

No answer.

"But you know, you really DID bring it upon yourself. I was tired and you insisted in being annoying." Link felt guilty. He had known, he shouldn't have lost his temper that way. He knew that Navi felt bad she could not actually help in battle, and thus tried to help in her own way.

The city guard had refused to let them in in the middle of night, so they had to fight off those stupid monsters the whole night. It's not like the monsters had been scary or strong or anything like that, but battling the whole night had somewhat tired Link and somewhere after the 50th 'Hey, listen!" sympathy had sunk extraordinarily low and he had snapped at his new, blue, tiny friend.

A tiny, yet angry snarl escaped his pouch.

Another long sigh. Since they had arrived Kink had discovered new, incredible things every other second. Most of the people were almost twice his size. The houses were greatly different from the trees in Kokiri Forest. Foreign, delicious-looking foods were sold at every corner.

The world was so marvellous, yet he was not really able to celebrate it. Not when things were like this. What was he doing? It was the second day of his journey and he no longer got along with his only companion. He had wished and prayed every night that the next day would bring him a fairy. Now he had one and he had already screwed up.

If he was not able to keep his friends happy, how could he save anyone? Let alone banish the evil and save Hyrule? No, this had to stop now!

"Navi, I'm sorry I snapped you. It won't happen again. I promise."

No answer. It seems he was not convincing enough.

Link thought hard. Just what could placate his friend? Of course!

"Naaviii." Link's mouth curled into a sly grin. "If you are willing to forget this fight, you have my permission to sleep in my hat for one week." This plan could never fail. Link knew the fairies could not resist sleeping in Kokiri hats. They were just the right shape.

Link heard some kind of mumbling from the pouch.

"What?" he asked.

The blue ball left his pouch with rampant speed and suddenly Navi was floating right before Link's face, eyes sparkling. "Three weeks and we have a deal!" Taken aback by Navi's extreme reaction Link remained silent for a moment. Then his face broke into a smile.

"Deal!" At least some problems he could solve without violence.

"Three thousand deku nuts! That building is big!" Link and Navi just stood (foated) there, mouths open. "Never seen a castle, kid? Ya must not be from 'ere." The mister from the fruit shop had kindly guided them to the Hyrule castle, when they had asked. And who would not want to guide someone who had just bought a whole day's worth of fruit. (The rupees were found in every pot and Link had trouble spending them all, as his wallet was quite small and could not store very much.)

"But why would someone want to live in a house that big?" Link was amazed. "Do they not get lonely?" Link genuinely felt sorry for the resident.

"The King an' 'is daughter live there. An' they are not alone. They 'ave loads servants an' guards an' stuff. To protect an' serve them ya know."

"You mean Princess Zelda, right?" Link was getting excited.

The day was getting better and better. They now knew where princess was. Maybe the rest would be easy!

"But no common person 'as nothin' to do with the princess. At least not a kid like ya."

Or not.

"Why not?! We really need to meet her! It's really important." Just like that their hopes for an easy mission slipped away.

"Commoners an' princesses are not meant to meet. That's just 'ow it is. If ya are going to sneak to the castle, good luck. The guards don't let a fly get through" he said and left them alone.

Link was not exactly sure, why everything had to be this complicated. He only knew that he had to meet the princess and she was inside that castle. To get to the castle, he would have to find a way past all those guards unnoticed. He had tried to explain the situation to one of them , but he had simply laughed and thrown him out without even trying to understand. "A tree sent you to meet the princess? You sure have some imagination, child!"

"Let's use some kind of disguise to get past them. We could hide into that milk cart that's making deliveries to the castle." Navi's idea was not the safest one but by so far the best one they had come up with. With this their way to the castle was clear, but they still had to deal with any guards patrolling inside.

In the end that was not a big problem. "Those guards are about as blind as moles! We were so close yet they could not see us!" Navi felt somehow very smug about tricking those guards. She was hardly ever able to hide from anyone due to her wings that kept buzzing, whenever she flew. "That is not a very nice thing to say," Link scolded her fairy. "See their helmets? They cover their entire head and they can't see anything that's not right before them," he explained.

"Well that is a pretty bad choice of helmet for guards!" Navi laughed. She was right. A guard that cannot see is a pretty bad guard. Link began to doubt whether the king was blind himself.

Link did not dislike girls. His best friend was a girl, so he had no reason to. That's why he found it odd that some boys from the Kokiri Forest acted as if girls were some kind of disgusting species. Because Link did not dislike girls, he had no problem having a female fairy. Because Link did not dislike girls, he easily got along with Zelda.

Zelda had been rather surprised when a strange boy in green suddenly barged in her garden, but she soon grew a smile as she hardly ever got to talk with other children. She seemed very interested about everything Link told her about the forest. It was also her first time ever seeing a real fairy. Needless to say the three of them had lot to talk about.

The garden was full of beautiful flowers and everywhere smelled good. In this place Link felt he could let his mind rest and forget everything sad just for a moment.

Unfortunately the peace was short-lived.

"Link," Zelda began, "I need to tell you about the dream I saw." The friendly atmosphere was gone. Link knew something serious was coming. Zelda took Link's hand and dragged him to the window nearby. "Do you see that man? He is my father's prime minister." Link looked and was struck by an uncomfortable sensation. The man had a dark skin and flaming red hair. He was also by far the largest person Link had ever seen. But these aspects tuned pale before the dark aura surrounding the man, and just by looking at him Link understood what those girls, scared by darkness, were feeling back then.

For the first time in his life, he was afraid.

"His name is Ganondorf Dragmire. And I think he wants to steal the very power of gods, the Triforce." That was a word, he had heard before. How many times had The Great Deku Tree told stories about the creation of the world?

"That emerald you brought with you, Ganondorf needs it to find the Triforce. You need to take care of that stone and find the other two before he does!" Link found it easy agree with the princess. If he would go and find those other stones, his path would eventually cross with Ganondorf's and the he would get his answers.

Besides, he really wanted to help Zelda.

"I will do it. But tell me one thing, Zelda. Why do you thing he wants the Triforce?"

Zelda looked at Link like he had asked the most idiotic question in the world.

"Why, you ask. I think the answer to that is a rather obvious, Link. It's because he is evil at heart of course!"

And there that answer was again. Did everyone **really** believe that?

**They showed the first trailer about the next Zelda-game in E3! I loved it! I really can't wait. I'm not exactly sure what to think about Hyrule Warriors, but that new model of Link is damn pretty 3**

**Tomorrow I'm traveling to Japan for ten days. I won't be writing anything there, but the next chapter is already mostly finished in my mind.**

**Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello dear readers! Yet again, thank you for the reviews! This part was my first idea, when planning this fic. The first chapters were planned after. Sorry for the slightly longer wait btw.**

Chapter 4

Ganondorf valued loyalty over any other virtue in the world. Loyalty brought some safety to this chaotic world. When people were loyal to their king, the king would in turn show loyalty to his people by always acting in their best interests. At the same time any kingdom without loyalty was filled with doubt, doomed to collapse from inside. This ideology alone had guided Ganondorf for quite some time. He sincerely wanted to believe that as long as he would show allegiance to his people by ruling well, they in turn would come to respect and trust him. With this mutual trust the kingdom of Gerudo would prosper and every one of them could live their lives without any kind of terror.

Nevertheless it was exactly because of this ideology that the Gerudo king now felt more conflicted than ever.

The plan had been settled years ago. Ganondorf would conceal his identity as the king of Gerudo, find some work from the castle and slowly rise in the ranks until he was the closest individual to the king of Hyrule. The plan had worked. It had taken only two years for Ganondorf to gain the king's trust and become the prime minister. Had he gained enough influence, he would start making changes in the kingdom. Just tiny ones. So insignificant changes that no one would so much as give a thought for them.

But in the end those tiny changes would matter the most.

Just a small change in the model of guard's helmets would make it easier for some of his own soldiers to sneak to the castle.

Sending a single new man to LonLon ranch would ensure that half of the castle would fall asleep from some spiked milk, if Ganondorf so wished.

At the same time he secretly caused some severe unrest in the outskirts of Hyrule. Kokiri, Goron and Zora were all In the middle of some crisis.

It was almost too easy. If the capital were taken over now, the whole kingdom would without doubt collapse.

And that meant a new phase in the history of Gerudo.

Yes, it was all for the sake of this one day. There would be a coup d'état. His people would take over Hyrule and justice would finally be served after so many years. This was the day he had waited for so long.

And yet he was conflicted.

While making his final preparations it had occurred to Ganondorf that he might be going against that very idea of loyalty, he so admired. Was he not about to kill the person he had served many years? Was he not about to betray a whole country?

In the midst of all that Ganondorf started feeling ill. To escape confusion he quickly reminded himself, whom he actually served. He did not serve the people of Hyrule as their prime minister. No, he was the king of Gerudo and he would always be on the side of his people. No matter what. And this filthy den of Hylia would soon finally know the pain his people had experienced for so long.

The sun had set. The whole town was asleep and when the residents would wake up at the next dawn, their home would no longer be the same.

Now resolved, he stepped to the chambers of the king of Hyrule. They were alone by Ganondorf's request. The moment was close. He would end the Kings life. But when he saw the King's kind gaze, the hesitation returned once again. Oh, how he despised that feeling. He could not let it rule over his heart. He had to act.

When Ganondorf stepped closer to the king, his expression shifted from kind to puzzled. He did not understand what his subordinate could possibly want at this hour.

When Ganondorf drew his sword, the king's face first showed great surprise, which was then replaced by realisation.

During these long years working under the king of Hyrule Ganondorf had imagined and rehearsed this moment countless times, preparing for every possible scenario. Yet he had never expected it to go like this.

When Ganondorf's intent was clear and the king knew he would die that night, instead of trying to defend himself or run away the king fell on his knees and begged. 'He is going to ask me to spare his daughter,' Ganondorf interpreted.

But he did not beg for his daughter. He did not beg for his family, for his friends, for his subordinates nor his kingdom. He only begged for himself, to save his own miserable life. This stunned Ganondorf for a tiny moment for he never had imagined the king's true colours to be this foul.

For one moment the time froze for Ganondorf. He had raised his sword over the king's head, but he could not move. He no longer heard the king, who desperately was trying to buy his own life with money, power, treasure and even with the hand of his own daughter.

Such cowardice could never be tolerated! This man did not deserve his crown! And in Ganondorf's opinion he didn't deserve to live either. The Gerudo enjoyed the feeling of the last remains of pity and hesitation leaving his heart. The only feeling left in his heart was spite.

When the king of the desert finally woke from his short trance, he noticed that the man was still speaking. The old man had already spoken enough. It was all in vain anyway.

Beforehand Ganondorf had decided to at least say 'I apologise' before taking the king out. He no longer felt it necessary. With just one slash Ganondorf made sure the old man would never open that foul mouth again.

"Sire, we have successfully seized the whole castle!"

The king of Gerudo left the royal chambers. He was not new to ending lives but he still found the stench of blood rather nauseating. When he stepped outside there was a young but enthusiastic messenger waiting for him. Ganondorf smiled faintly. Young people like her tended to be most loyal. He was happy to give this young generation a better place to live than that dead desert and endless sand. That is right: With Hyrule castle fallen, no one could ever again be able to restrict the freedom of Gerudo. They were not chained to that lifeless desert anymore. Just that thought made his day.

"Good work. Please call everyone to the great hall. I presume some kind of speech is in order. And please find me some kind of cloth to wipe all this blood in. It truly disgusts me. And finally, find someone to take care of that mess in the chambers. Is everything clear?" This young woman was unarmed. She had not taken part in the fight itself and by giving her orders Ganondorf made sure that she too felt herself important.

"Yes, I understand and Roger, Sire! I actually have a towel with me right now. You can have it Sire! I also already assigned some new recruit's to take care of the fallen. As for the order to get everyone together, Sire-"

"What now?" Would this messenger disobey his order? Why?

"-I was sent here by vice-commander Nabooru, Sire. Everyone is already in the great hall and they all demand your audience, Sire."

What was the meaning of this?

Approximately one hundred female soldiers stood in the middle of the great hall. The troops were not in any kind of formation nor order. Discipline was not a common trait amidst Gerudo warriors. The traces of battle were evident. Many had blood in their clothes and even some wounds, yet there had not been any casualties amongst their own. The room was dark and cold at night. Some individuals were holding torches to illuminate the vast room and keep everyone a little warmer. All this was exactly like Ganondorf had been expecting when stepping before his people.

What he had not been expecting was the atmosphere most grim and the lack of joy in the expressions of his subordinates. Something was very wrong here. Gerudo were not known for flaming emotions, but this was still surreal. Why weren't they cheering? They had achieved a perfect victory! Hyrule was now under Gerudon rule!

Ganondorf began his speech. Maybe they just couldn't grasp the consequences of this situation yet. After all the Gerudo were known for ruthless power and fighting spirit not radiant intelligence.

"For hundreds of years our people have been forced to live in that desert. We have not known fertile lands nor diverse nature. Most of our ancestors died of starvation after being exiled from this kingdom of Hyrule. Only we, the very last remains of Gerudo still live! Had this filthy discrimination, this injustice still continued for one generation, Gerudo would have disappeared forever. And yet, today we have put an end to all of it." Ganondorf paused to get some more air. He then prepared to announce the next part in loud volume. "From this day onward we are free to-"

"I reckon we 'ave listened to this rubbish long enough. Can we go home?" Someone interrupted from the crowd.

"Pardon?!" Ganondorf had not yet experienced such insolence. He did not understand. He wanted to hear what the fool had to say for herself.

A long-haired woman in the middle of the crowd raised her hand, meaning she wanted to speak. She looked, like she was fed up with all of this conquest and freedom stuff. Her fellow soldiers and sisters with equally bored expressions raised her up from her feet, so she could better interact with the king.

"What does your family call you and what makes you think, you can interrupt, when your king is speaking?" Ganondorf was now enraged.

"Yea, me name is Shovu and we 'ad just been reckoning that if this castle is down and your highness 'as got what you wanted, then is there any reason for the lot of us to be 'here anymore?"

They really weren't that bright, were they? "Fool! Don't you realise that this kingdom is ours now. None of us have to go back to the desert anymore! I will organize a place to live for all of you and-"

"Shut up, you half-hylian scum!" He had been interrupted yet again. This time more aggressively and this time someone had brought up a topic he would absolutely never want to discuss. Such insolence would not go unpunished. Ganondorf drew his sword. If he had to cut some limbs to show his people, which words were not allowed, then he would do just that without a hint of remorse.

"Show yourself, you impudent idiot! Is that how you talk to your king?"

Another woman was raised to meet the king's furious stare. This one was older and where there normally would be respect and modesty in someone's eyes, when facing one's king, this particular woman only showed deep loathing. What she said, she spat out, like it tasted bad.

"You are no king to us. We have obeyed you and played along with your little schemes, because that damned prophecy says that we have to make anyone who is born male our king. That does not mean, we respect you. We would never respect you! You are not even one of us. You are just some mongrel that was put in charge, simply because you have the right tools! Please, let me laugh!"

And they all did. The only male in the room was not able to say a word anymore. He had been betrayed. His world was falling apart. The woman continued.

"Anyway, we don't care about this Hyrule or ruling this land. We fought because we were ordered to and now we are going back home."

The crowd was beginning to dissolve. Everyone turned their backs to their hurt leader and began heading outside. From the deep abyss of shock and confusion Ganondorf still managed to utter: "You fools, do you not realise that if you go back, you will all die eventually and that will be the very final end for Gerudo."

One woman separated herself from the crowd and walked before Ganondorf. Nabooru, the vice-commander had never seen eye to eye with her leader but now she stood proud before him and looked him strictly in the eye as she said: "It is true, that the desert brings only death and that we were originally sent there in exile, but today that desert is our home. And to our home we shall return. Not you nor anyone can say otherwise. Farewell Ganondorf Dragmire. I doubt we meet again, if we both stick to our paths." With that she left her defeated king alone and headed outside with the others. When she reached the door she spoke one last time.

"I was supposed to tell you that the princess was rescued by that Sheikah servant of hers. If that means anything I advise you to get your horse ready. She is probably leaving the city right now."

And with that Ganondorf was alone. But because of the final words of Nabooru he now had new resolve in his eyes. That little princess was not allowed to escape! Little princess would eventually grow up and she could possibly bring a rebellion with her if she one day came back. He had to prevent that at any cost! Pushing aside the betrayal he had just experienced and the collapse of his ideals he focused to this very moment. Without even thinking he made his way to the royal stall and saddled his horse.

The hunt was on. He had to find that little brat.

He had luck. The princess had not yet made it very far. At the town gate he caught a glimpse of her. He prepared to chase after her but was interrupted by an unlikely obstacle. There was a tiny Kokiri boy in his way. He could clearly see that his presence terrified the boy, yet still it was it was all so ironic. This tiny boy could do what the king of Hyrule could not: he stood there, opposing him, knowing how dangerous it would be. Ganondorf respected such courage, so he decided not to kill the boy. He simply knocked him over and dashed away. After all what could a tiny Kokiri possibly do to actually harm him?

He chased for hours, but he never seemed to catch the princess and her servant. Eventually he lost the sight of the two and was left riding aimlessly.

He was exhausted and not just physically. Within a single day he had gained and lost everything.

He had gained the power to rule over this realm. For a short moment he was a king once again.

He had lost his people and his home forever. His ideals had collapsed and taken down everything he believed in. Now he had lost the sight of the person, who might eventually grow up to become his demise.

But oddly enough, he didn't even care anymore. It had already been decided in the great hall that Gerudo would go extinct. It was when his people abandoned him that the fate of them all was sealed. The Gerudo were so stubborn that they would die out before mixing with other races. Just how idiotic was that?

But none of it mattered anymore.

There was only one thing Ganondorf was sure of. If Gerudo were going extinct, every other race would follow them. He would sink Hyrule to darkness and simply wait for everything to end.

**Woah! That was long! I enjoyed writing it though.**

**I hope you enjoyed!**

**Japan was kind of weird, yet very fun at the same time. There were no trash cans ANYWHERE!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I need to confess that I never played through OoT. ^_^" I got stuck somewhere in the middle and never mustered enough motivation to continue. When I reach that point in the story, I guess I'll have to play it. **

Contradictions 5

Link had always had this bad habit of oversleeping. Other children would always force themselves to wake up in the morning, but not Link. He just couldn't see what was wrong in sleeping until he woke up on his own. Because of this Link was often scolded by his best friend Saria and even The Great Deku Tree.

"The day vanishes, if you sleep this long!"

"Your friends will play without you, if you just sleep all morning."

Link saw their point, but didn't think it was such a big deal. It's not like anyone of them was in hurry or anything.

This time however, he was in a hurry. In fact the time had never been this important in his life and he understood it. He had not overslept wasted his precious time in any way. He gave his everything to obtain all three jewels and return to princess Zelda as fast as he could.

He gave his all, yet it had not been enough.

The smell of smoke came first. Link didn't think much of it first: It reminded him of the times, when he and Saria had roasted deku nuts together. (They tasted awful, if eaten rare, but ok when grilled long enough.) He smiled to the thought. With all the sacred stones in his little bag he and Zelda would be able to end whatever schemes that suspicious man had up his sleeve.

Then Link would finally get his answers. Afterwards he would be able to go back to the forest and roast all kinds of foods with Saria again! Everything would go back to normal.

Except The Great Deku Tree would never return.

That's right. Link had chosen to leave for this journey partly, because it was the last wish of his only parent and teacher and partly, because he wanted to understand the reasons behind all of this. Even so, Link still did not know, what to do with the man behind his misery.

Link did not want to kill him. Sure, he had been very angry at first. Vengeful thoughts had almost consumed him whole. Thoughts like: "A murderer deserves to die himself." or "I will make sure The Great Deku Tree gets justice!" were constantly invading his mind. That was, until he remembered one of lessons, wise tree had once shared with them all.

A boy had accidentally severely hurt the fairy of his friend and that friend then had caused an accident to the other. This had put a crack in their friendship. In fact, their little war went so far, it began to affect the atmosphere of Kokiri forest. In the end The Great Deku Tree had been the one to solve everything.

"Revenge is never to be confused with justice. Should one take revenge he would be no better than the one that originally did wrong. Hatred is a dangerous thing, children. If it blinds you, you can no longer see reasons behind the deed. But most importantly: Revenge can, under no circumstances, never bring happiness to anyone. So instead of hating, try to understand and forgive. Those can seem to be the hardest tasks, but believe me children: The one who chooses the path of forgiveness suffers a lot less, than the one who chose the path of revenge."

He had snapped out of it. Forgiving was too much to ask. That would never happen, but he wanted to at least understand, no matter how hard it was.

In the end he had to wonder, whether his teacher had spoken from his own experience.

Being absorbed by his thoughts, Link hadn't noticed how near Hyrule Castle he had reached. He was woken up by Navi's small, panicky voice.

"Link, look!"

Link turned his head upwards. He hadn't noticed it earlier, because the sky was so dark, (It would rain soon.) but now he was sure of it.

Smoke. A lot of it.

Link ran. Was he too late? His fears multiplied every moment and when he reached the top of the hill they were all confirmed. Every single one of them.

It was not fair! Link had given his all up until now. He had battled monsters, helped everyone to solve their problems and fulfilled his task, but none of that mattered anymore. He had been too late.

As the Castle town was being eaten by flames and grey ash filled the air, Link just stood there and thought. He could not believe what was happening! It couldn't be true! Didn't the residents use fire to heat their homes at night? Could it be possible that some people had just accidentally set their houses in fire?

Not likely.

He could've stood there days, until he would've been covered with ash, mourning how powerless he was, but there were still things left to do. Navi made sure Link would snap out of it.

"Link!"

No reaction.

"Liiiiiiiiiink! Wake. Up."

He still wasn't listening. For the love of- This boy was such an idiot sometimes! Link was kind person that tolerated Navi, even when she spoke rudely. He also let her sleep in his hat. In the short time, Navi had known Link she had grown very attached to the boy, but in the name of Farore his habit of never listening to her was really starting to irk her!

"Link! For the Goddesses' sake! Listen to me, you stupid, green, vegetable! Snap out of it! We don't have time for this. Remember Zelda? She might still be in there!" Navi pointed towards the castle. "Stop sulking and start saving princesses, okay? Did you not make a promise to her?"

While Navi was short-tempered, she never raged without a reason. Even now she really did bring her point across. Upon hearing Zelda's name Link was like a new Kokiri.

Navi was right. No matter how badly he had failed, he was still able to keep circumstances from getting any worse. Even if all he could do was to help one girl escape, he would do it.

With that Link ran. He did not know, if he would even find Zelda, nor if it was possible to even get to the castle anymore, but he prepared for the worst. That's why he was really surprised, when the gates opened and he saw the very girl already escaping to the night. Link saw her only for a second, but he felt really happy that she was still alive.

That happiness was short-lived. Someone was chasing the princess. Link could not see clearly, as the ash made his eyes hurt and the flames created a contrast too strong to identify the figure. The Kokiri still had a very clear idea, who it was and it scared the breakfast out of him.

It didn't matter. He would delay Ganondorf if it was the last thing he would accomplish. With trembling knees Link stood before The Gerudo and his horse to prevent them from getting any further. Link knew he was no match for a giant man AND a horse, but he had to buy some time. He raised his hands in the air to signal that the other could not pass.

His pathetic attempt seemed to arouse amusement in the enemy. When he began laughing while the fire still raged behind him, Link was ready faint from sheer terror.

"Foolish child! Do you not realise, who you are meddling with? I am Ganondorf and soon I shall rule the world!"

Link wasn't exactly sure why, but he was definitely still alive. He must've been unconscious for quite a while, because when he came to the flames had already died down. Slowly he stood up. His back was hurting, but that was nothing compared to his head. It really felt like it would explode any minute now. Link couldn't even see straight as his sense of balance had taken to the hills. He could barely remember anything and honestly speaking, he did not want to. He didn't want to admit it, but apart from praying, there really wasn't anything he could do for Zelda anymore. But there was no time to get sad over what had happened.

Even with all the haziness he had to deal with, something about the earlier events kept bugging him.

He had been so scared, he hadn't noticed right away.

Something about Zelda. It had seemed like she had had something really important to say.

She had been waving to Link, but that was stupid. No one would want to wave happily in that situation. She had been chased by a bad man after all.

She had thrown something? The moat?

!

That cleared his head. Without even thinking Link rushed towards the water and jumped in. Somewhere in the background a tiny fairy was being noisy, not understanding her master's thoughts. Link turned a deaf ear, giving his full attention to whatever it was that Zelda had thrown.

Link didn't care when his clothes got wet, nor when his bombs became unusable.

A tiny glint revealed the location of a small item. Being about the same colour as the rocks around, it was a tiny miracle Link saw anything at all.

An ocarina.

It was the same type of instrument, Saria had given him, only this was shiny and perfectly polished. It had a tiny, golden crest on it. Link had seen the same crest before. It was planted anywhere that had something to with the royal family.

Then, this was the ocarina of time?

If Link thought seeing such a holy artefact lying if the bottom of filthy moat was surprising, he would soon reconsider his definition of "surprising." Upon touching the instrument his head began filling with strange knowledge. He would finally find answers for many questions, even if the most important ones would remain unanswered, until he was ready to answer to those himself.

What are the spiritual stones for? What can I do anymore? Where do I go? Did I fail?

"Go to the temple of time and all will be revealed."

For those who couldn't hear what Link was hearing, he looked like an idiot, just standing there, mouth open, in the middle of muddy water.

It wasn't the first time Navi had doubted, whether this boy really had what it takes to save the realm, but her doubts seemed to multiply every second now that she could get no reaction out of her petrified master.

A minute later she got the scare of her life, when the lightning-struck master suddenly snapped out of it and yelled to her face:

"Navi, we are going to find the temple of time!"

And then he just stormed off.

It wasn't really the sudden movement that startled Navi, but the change of character in Link's tone and overall aura. The boy that usually spoke so quietly and politely was now full of confidence determination. It's like he had just now matured by few years. Not that she was complaining. Not at all.

It might be better to follow him. Who knows, what he would do if Navi wasn't there watching over him?

The whole Kokiri forest would fit to live inside this "temple." And not just once, but twice! The temple was just so magnificently large, Link momentarily forgot, whatever his business there was. What he couldn't understand was, why to build the roof so high? No one was actually this tall, right? The whole building was made from light grey, gleaming stones. It was beautiful, but the lack of any kind of furniture meant that Link's every step would echo eerily from the naked walls, which made Link somewhat uneasy.

In the middle of the room there was some kind of pedestal with strange writing on it.

"You who possess the three holy stones: free the melody of times and your path shall be revealed to you."

It really did open!

A door in the back of the temple slowly cracked open as Link played the song. The echo, bouncing of the walls made the atmosphere feel very ceremonial. Whatever was behind those doors must've been very important! With high expectations Link walked in, only to be slightly disappointed, when all he could find was a single sword in the middle of the room. The sword had been struck to some kind of pedestal.

Of course. Link did, what would be anyone's first instinct. He would grab the sword to see if there was anything remotely special about it. But Link would not know, would he? The very second the sword would separate from its pedestal, Link's consciousness was already fading.

**This was a booooooring chapter to write and it shows too. But finally the child-arc is OVER. Now HERE is where the fun begins. :D *hehehe***

**Thanks for reading this far btw!**


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